Judge grants halt to Midwest pipeline project
Work on four-state project will stop in North Dakota, but go on elsewhere
An American Indian tribe succeeded Tuesday in getting a federal judge to temporarily stop construction on some, but not all, of a portion of a $3.8-billion, four-state oil pipeline, but their broader request still hangs in the balance.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Tuesday that work will temporarily stop between North Dakota’s State Highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, but will continue west of the highway because he believes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacks jurisdiction on private land. It wasn’t immediately clear how long work will stop.
He also said he’ll rule on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s challenge of federal regulators’ decision to grant permits to the Texas-based operators of Dakota Access pipeline by the end of Friday.
A weekend confrontation between protesters and construction workers near Lake Oahe prompted the tribe to ask Sunday for a temporary stop of construction. Four private security guards and two guard dogs received medical treatment, officials said, while a tribal spokesman noted that six people — including a child — were bitten by the dogs and at least 30 people were pepper-sprayed.
Dakota Access lawyer Bill Leone said during Tuesday’s hearing that there were two more attacks on crews Tuesday, and that if it weren’t for the stoppages, the section in question would be finished by the end of this week.
“We’re disappointed that some of the important sacred sites that we had found and provided evidence for will not be protected,” said attorney Jan Hasselman with Earthjustice, who filed the broader lawsuit on behalf of the tribe. “We’re grateful that there was an agreement at least in the area immediately next to Lake Oahe, and we’ll know more by the end of the week about where we’re heading.”
A spokeswoman for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners didn’t immediately respond to telephone messages requesting comment. Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II was expected to release a statement on Facebook later Tuesday.
We’re disappointed that some of the important sacred sites that we had found and provided evidence for will not be protected.
Workers allegedly bulldozed sites on private land Saturday, land that Hasselman said in court documents were “of great historic and cultural significance to the tribe.” The tribe’s cultural expert, Tim Mentz Sr., said in court documents that the tribe believes there are human remains in the area and that it wants “an opportunity to rebury our relatives.”
“The elders say that reburying can help deal with the loss and hurt of disturbing these graves,” he said.
Lawyers for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners filed court documents Tuesday morning denying that workers have destroyed any cultural sites and asking the judge to reject the tribes’ request for a temporary work stoppage. The company said it “has taken and continues to take every reasonable precaution” to protect cultural sites.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers didn’t oppose the tribe’s most recent request, with Assistant Attorney General John Cruden saying in court documents that “the public interest would be served by preserving peace.”
The tribe’s outstanding lawsuit attempts to halt construction of the pipeline, which crosses North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois and is due to be finished this year. The suit says the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, will harm water supplies on the reservation and downstream, and disturb ancient sacred sites.
Hundreds of protesters have camped out near the reservation for weeks.